Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle, Riesling, Spätlese, 2014
More complex earth and red apple flavours, less zip than Brucke, more grounded with ripe pear skin and dark slate notes. Not only is this broader but the slightly lower acidity gives the impression of greater richness. Helmut describes this as 'classic old style' , like a '75. '88 or '90.
critic reviews
From an old parcel in the Hermannshöhle whose vines are still single post-trained, this auctioned bottling (representing the contents of a 600-liter Halbstück) delivers a highly aromatic and luscious amalgam of white peach, pink grapefruit and Persian melon not unlike that familiar from its A.P. #12 counterpart. Suggestions of nut pastes complemented by candied citrus rind are also present. But this boasts a yet creamier texture, greater delicacy, and a more complex and mouthwatering mineral savor, allied to raw scallop-like sweetness and salinity.
In 2014 the Donnhoffs bottled two different Spatlese Rieslings from their family cru Hermannshohle. The regular 2014 Riesling Spatlese Niederhauser Hermannshohle shows a clear and aristocratic bouquet of great finesse. On the palate, this wine is so deliciously ripe, piquant, fine and elegant that it is almost mind-blowing. This is great and extremely cool, precise, finesse-full, frisky, filigreed and light-hearted, though still a serious Spatlese with a stimulatingly piquant finish. A great Spatlese -- one of the finest I had in 2015.